User:Masako/nkala
some ideas...
Numbers
Cardinal numerals are placed in the same syntactical position as other quantifiers, but they cannot head a noun phrase and are thus always preceded by a determiner. Ordinal numerals behave like nouns syntactically.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unit | na'o | ta'o | ha'o | ma'o | ya'o | tsa'o | ka'o | pa'o | sa'o | ue'o |
| x10 | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| ordinal | kina'o | kita'o | kiha'o | kima'o | kiya'o | kitsa'o | kika'o | kipa'o | kisa'o | kiue'o |
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns in --- inflect for three cases (nominative, accusative, and possessive), and have an animacy distinction in the 3rd person (more or less along the line of human vs. non-human). Note that the paradigm of the possessive pronouns is defective, with a number distinction existing only in the first person.
| nominative | accusative | possessive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | e | ə | axe |
| 2sg | lɛñɔ | lɛño | adɔ |
| 3sg anim. | loru | luru | ayru |
| 3sg inan. | loyo | luño | ah |
| 1pl | wi | wɛ | aymɛ |
| 2pl | wɛñɔ | wɛño | adɔ |
| 3pl anim. | wəru | waru | ayru |
| 3pl inan. | wayo | waño | ah |
sources:
Buruya_Nzaysa Cednìtıt
Compounding
Compounding is a simple method of combining multiple nominals to form a more complex meaning. The most common construction takes the form of <HEAD>-OBL/GEN-<MODIFIER>, forming a general genitive compound. The genitive marker is often elided when the second part of the compound begins with a vowel, resulting in a simple concatenation of the two nouns.
Examples:
- dteŋ hair + paxı lion → dteŋıpaxı mane
- ar star + cowo summit, peak → arıcowo North Star (?)
